ISSN 2732-4877
Middle East tracker
Tracking the dynamic Middle East
February 4, 2023
Article
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect Middle East tracker’s editorial stance.
Turkey’s Upcoming General Election and LGBTQ+ Issues
By © Copyright 2023
Simone Bekker and Hussein Solomon
University of the Free State, South Africa
Among the many general elections of international consequence to watch this year (2023), Nigeria’s, scheduled for February will be by far the largest; Pakistan’s, due to take place in October, will probably be the loudest. But the most important will unquestionably take place in June, when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks to extend his rule over Turkey into a third decade. Perhaps one of the most under-reported issues in this election but one which will provide a good indication of the Islamist nature of Erdogan’s ruling AKP as well as the future treatment of minorities in Turkey is the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other (LGBTQ+). In order to understand Erdogan and the AKP’s attitude towards the LGBTQ+ community, a bit of context is necessary.
Murray (2007: 101-16) asserts that although homosexual relationships were apparent during the Ottoman era, before the establishment of the Turkish republic, the rise of non-heteronormative identities as a personal and collective identity did not take place until the 20th century. However, Engin (2015: 840) notes that the increasing visibility of same sex relations did not translate into an increasing public tolerance toward homosexuality. Traditional Islamic values remain omnipresent in most government and societal institutions, even though the Turkish republic was created as a secular state. The impact of these values on Turkish policy making has led to further marginalisation, stigmatisation, and socially disadvantageous results for those who do not conform to the dominant hetero-normative gender norms and sexual identities. As a possible result of Turkey’s secularism, homosexuality is treated by Turkish law in a rather neutral way, by failing to mention sexual orientation in much of their national law. The Turkish Imperial Penal Code (1858) made no mention of same sex sexual act between adults, neither does the Turkey: Criminal Code (2004). Culturally, however, homosexuality remains a taboo subject in most areas of Turkish society, where a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach is adopted.
In 2017, ILGA (2017) conducted a survey asking Turkish people if they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “It is possible to respect my religion and be accepting of people who are romantically or sexually attracted to people of the same sex”. Surprisingly, 41% of people strongly agreed or somewhat agreed, in contrast to 35% who strongly disagreed or somewhat disagreed. Additionally, 24% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. This demonstrates that while there is a substantial number of Turkish people who use the religious argument to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, there is a greater segment who are both religious and accepting of LGBTQ+ people. Thus, it seems that a larger part of the Turkish population has successfully reconciled their religious beliefs and their acceptance of homosexuality. However, Turkey’s increasing anti-gay rhetoric is part of the revival of polarising identity politics in the country, as President Erdogan tries to resonate with the strong nationalist and religious vein to strengthen his Islamist-rooted party’s slumped support, which many argue has decreased to its lowest level during Erdogan’s 17 years of rule (Jackley, 2020).
Of importance here is that there remains a low tolerance toward homosexuality in the country, which has brought about various forms of violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals not only legally but also socially (Pew Research Center, 2019). This type of violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals is evident from reports such as the one by KAOS GL (2021) which noted that there were 150 self-reported attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals during 2019, 129 of which took place in public spaces and 41 included more than one attacker. In August 2016 Hande Kade, a transgender activist, was murdered after being raped (BBC, 2016). According to a transgender Europe report by Trans Respect (2022), a total of 58 transgender individuals were murdered from 2008 until September 2021.
In addition, ILGA (2021) ranked Turkey 48th regarding the legal and policy situation of LGBTQ+ people in 49 European countries. Although homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey, it is generally seen as immoral and unnatural, and LGBTQ+ individuals are not mentioned in the anti-discrimination act, or in publications relating to hate crimes, except for the Turkish Armed Forces Health Aptitude Regulation and Law No. 5275 On the Execution of Penalties and Security Measures (Turkish Armed Forces Disciplinary Law). However, KAOS GL (2017) notes that the ambiguous terms such as “public morality”, “obscenity” and “the Turkish family structure” in Turkish legislation are used to limit or prevent LGBTQ+ individuals from enjoying their basic rights. This leaves Turkish LGBTQ+ members vulnerable to discrimination and violence.
Huaman (2019: 14) notes that the leading discriminatory and marginalising tool used against LGBTQ+ Turkish Muslims, or LGBTQ+ Muslims in general, is the rejection of their sexual identity and practices by interpretations of the Islamic faith. Many conservative Muslim leaders argue that identifying as both LGBTQ+ and Muslim is forbidden. For many in the Muslim community these identities are seen as mutually exclusive. In April 2020, Ali Erbas, head of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs, also called Diyanet, a state-funded agency that runs mosques and appoints imams, said that Islam condemns homosexuality as it “brings illness and corrupts generations” (Reuters, 2020). Erbas added that homosexuality causes the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which leads to AIDS. During his weekly sermon, he said: “Come and let’s fight together to protect people from such evil” (Reuters, 2020). Erbas’s comments received some support from social media users who trended a hashtag that translated to “go to Holland”, which has been frequently used as an anti-LGBTQ+ statement and which refers to the legislation of same-sex marriage in the Netherlands (Pink News, 2020). Various leaders publicly supported Erbas. The Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Advisor, İbrahim Kalın, commented that Ali Erbaş “put the divine truth into words”. The Minister of Family, Labour, and Social Services, Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, commented that Erbaş’ words “remind us of our religious values in order to protect our families and generations during Ramadan”. Kaos GL (2020), a major Turkish gay rights organisation, reported that Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission Spokesperson, Osman Nuri Gülaç, asserted that humanity’s future is only feasible via “legitimate” marriages (Kaos GL, 2020).
In addition, the Young Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Intersex Youth Studies, and Solidarity Association, Young LGBTI+ (2020), conducted a study on the state of the LGBTQ+ community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey found that 23% of the participants struggled to access health services and medicine, while 15% claimed that they had no health insurance. Moreover, 32% of the participants stated that their health conditions were negatively impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the most frequently reported problems were the postponement of appointments of the psychiatric unit, the failure to prescribe medication for transgender individuals in the body adjustment process, and the failure to take HIV and HPV tests and medication (Sargin, and Goktas, 2017: 58).
In February 2022, Justice and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu took to Twitter to call LGBTQ+ individuals’ “perverts”. His remarks provoked a wave of hate speech on social media against the LGBTQ+ community. This continued hate campaign against the community took place in the context of increasing hateful rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community by not only representatives of high-level religious and political institutions, but also actions and legislation attacking human rights defenders and civil society organisations (ILGA, 2022).
In a country extremely polarised along political and religious lines, the rainbow symbol has become another cultural battleground. Milton (2020) reported that the Reklam Ozdenetim Kurulu (the Advertising Self-Regulatory Board) board members unanimously decided that LGBTQ+ and rainbow-themed products sold online should be advertised with an 18+ warning as it risks children’s “mental, psychological, and social development”. In addition, the LC Waikiki textile company told its employees in Turkey to “not use rainbows in a way that can be perceived as LGBTQ+, to decrease the numbers of colours used in products, and to differentiate the shades of colours”. This was in an attempt to ensure that during the months of June and July (known as pride month and LGBTQ+ awareness month around the world) rainbow, unicorn, or rainbow-unicorn themes are not used in a way that is perceived to be supportive of the LGBTQ+ community(Korkmaz, 2020).
Furthermore, on 18 September 2022, thousands of demonstrators gathered and marched during the Big Family Gathering march in Istanbul. Many of the protesters held banners which read “Law for the development of the spirit and moral” and “LGBTQ, remove your dirty hand from our children”. The anti-LGBTQ+ protests were approved by the government and promoted by Turkey’s media watchdog which broadcasted a promotional video that called LGBTQ+ individuals a “virus” (VOA News, 2022). However, it was reported that when LGBTQ+ activists attempted to protest, they were met with riot police, which led to the arrest of hundreds of participants. Many of those detained were handcuffed and kept in hot vehicles without air-conditioning, food, or water. Many of them were prevented from having access to lawyers within a reasonable time frame and one lawyer was reportedly met with violence when she spoke to police about her client (Crick, 2022).
In its latest brutal campaign against LGBTQ+ rights activism and freedom of expression, the Turkish government enabled its security forces to attack and arrest hundreds of people during the Istanbul Pride March on 26 June 2022. Kaos GL (2022) reported that the number of arrests was three times that of the total arrests made during the previous seven Istanbul marches combined, with 34 of the arrestees being youth aged under 18. Even before the march commenced, local authorities ejected people from cafes (Euronews, 2022), shut down metro stations (RaillyNews, 2022), and pre-emptively arrested 52 people. The journalists’ union, DISK Basin-IS, reported that the during the pride march police beat numerous participants and attempted to prohibit journalists from photographing or recording the event. This included detaining a photographer from Agence France-Presse (Human Rights Watch., 2022).
Human Rights Watch (2022a) notes that during Women’s Day celebrations across Turkey in March 2021, participants reported that authorities not only prohibited individuals from bringing rainbow-colored objects to the demonstrations, but they also tried to stop trans women from joining the assemblies. During a daytime assembly police arrested five trans women together with four other women who attempted to stop the arrests. They were all sentenced to one month of house arrest (Kaos Gl, 2021). That same day President Erdogan’s communication director, Fahrettin Altun, made an anti-LGBTQ+ speech saying: “Families and children [are] targeted through … tolerance for homosexuality propaganda”. Altun also called homosexuality an “ugliness”.
It remains to be seen how the issue of LGBTQ+ rights will play out in the upcoming election, but it is clear that there is currently an attack on LGBTQ+ right in Turkey and the upcoming election is an opportunity for the Turkish people to make their voices heard on this and other important issues, and to help shape the future of their country. The upcoming election in Turkey is an important moment for the country and its citizens, and the issue of LGBTQ+ rights will be a crucial factor in determining the direction that the country takes in the years to come.
References:
BBC. 2016. Hande Kader: Outcry in Turkey over transgender woman's murder. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37143879. Accessed: 2021/08/20
BBC News. 2021a. Turkey LGBT: Four students arrested over artwork. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55872759. Accessed: 2021/07/12
BBC News. 2021b. Turkey's Erdogan denounces LGBT youth as police arrest students. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55901951. Accessed: 2022/07/23
BBC News. 2021c. Ebrar Karakurt: Supporters rally around Turkish volleyballer after abuse. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58229818. Accessed: 2021/02/17
Bulut, A.T. & Yildirim, T.M. 2021. Elite Influence on Attitudes About Gender Egalitarianism: Evidence from a Population-Based Survey Experiment. Political Behavior. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-021-09722-w Accessed: 2021/06/06
Butler, D. & Kucukgocmen, A. 2021. Turkey university protests not over despite rector's dismissal. Available from: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-university-protests-not-over-activists-say-2021-07-16/. Accessed: 2021/08/12
Crick, P. 2022. LGBTI rights: Turkey escalates campaign against community. Available from: https://www.ibanet.org/LGBTI-rights-Turkey-escalates-campaign-against-community. Accessed: 2021/06/06
Engin, C. 2015. LGBT in Turkey: Policies and experiences. Social Sciences. 4(3):838-858.
Euronews. 2022. Istanbul Pride: Dozens arrested as police break up LGBTQ march in Turkey. Available from: https://www.euronews.com/2022/06/26/turkish-police-break-up-istanbul-pride-arrest-dozens-including-journalists.
Farooq, U. 2021. Murder prompts calls for Turkey to rejoin Istanbul Convention. Available from: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/18/turkey-femicide-istanbul-convention-womens-rights. Accessed: 2021/12/12
Huaman, D.K., 2019. The Post-9/11 LGBTQ human rights struggle in Egypt. Available from: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3007/. Accessed: 2021/10/19
Human Rights Watch. 2022a. Turkey: Mass Arrests, Anti-LGBT Violence at Pride. Available from; https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/30/turkey-mass-arrests-anti-lgbt-violence-pride. Accessed: 2022/11/20
Human Rights Watch. 2022b. Combatting Domestic Violence in Turkey. Available from: https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/05/26/combatting-domestic-violence-turkey/deadly-impact-failure-protect. Accessed: 2022/11/20
ILGA. 2017. The Ilga-Riwi 2016 Global Attitudes Survey on LGBTI People in Partnership with Logo (May 2016). Available from: https://ilga.org/ilga-riwi-global-attitudes-survey-2016. Accessed: 2022/07/12
ILGA. 2021. Rainbow Europe Map and Index 2021. Available from: https://ilga-europe.org/report/rainbow-europe-2021/. Accessed: 2022/12/30
ILGA. 2022. Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People in Europe and Central Asia 2022. Available from: https://ilga-europe.org/files/uploads/2022/04/annual-review-2022.pdf. Accessed: 2022/12/04
Jackley, A. 2020. Turkey’s LGBTQ community at risk amid rise in homophobic rhetoric. Available from: https://www.politico.eu/article/turkey-lgbtq-community-risk-rise-in-homophobic-rhetoric/. Accessed: 2022/05/19
Kaos GL. 2020. What happened after the hateful khutbah of the Religious Affairs Administration of Turkey? Available from: https://www.kaosgl.org/en/single-news/what-happened-after-the-hateful-khutbah-of-the-religious-affairs administration-of-turkey. Accessed: 2021/10/30
Kaos GL. 2021. HDK LGBTI+ Assembly activists Yıldız İdil Şen and Güneş, who were detained after the March 8 protest, were sentenced to one-month house arrest. Available from: https://kaosgl.org/en/single-news/hdk-lgbti-activists-yildiz-and-gunes-sentenced-to-house-arrest-for-one-month Accessed: 2023/02/03
Kaos GL. 2022. LGBTI+s’ resistance hurdled police attack: We have no thought of going away. Available from: https://kaosgl.org/en/single-news/lgbti-s-resistance-hurdled-police-attack-we-have-no-thought-of-going-away Accessed: 2022/09/27
Korkmaz, Y. 2020. LC Waikiki bans rainbows and unicorns!. Available from: https://kaosgl.org/en/single-news/lc-waikiki-bans-rainbows-and-unicorns. Accessed: 2022/05/26
Milton, J. 2020. Turkey claims rainbows ‘negatively affect children’s mental health’ in hilling clampdown on LGBT+ Pride merchandise. Available from: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/12/09/turkey-lgbt-rainbow-pride-children-18-ministry-trade-commerce/. Accessed: 2022/10/11
Murray, O. 2007. Homosexuality in the Ottoman Empire. Historical Reflections Historiques. 33 (2007): 101–16
Trans Respect. 2022. Trans murder monitoring. Available from: https://transrespect.org/en/map/trans-murder-monitoring/ Accessed: 2022/11/26
Turkish Imperial Penal Code (1858) https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/turkish-criminal-code. Accessed: 2023/01/04
Pew Research Center. 2019. The Global Divide on Homosexuality. Available from: http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/. Accessed: 2021/06/13
Pink News. 2020. ‘Go to Holland’ is the bizarre new homophobic slur in Turkey after Muslim cleric curses LGBT+ people. Available from: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/02/turkey-homophobic-slur-go-to-holland-yallah-hollandaya-ali-erbas-president-erdogan/. Accessed: 2021/06/18
Pink News. 2021. Turkey quits landmark Istanbul Convention because it “normalises homosexuality”. Available from: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/03/22/turkey-lgbt-istanbul-convention-normalises-homosexuality-recep-erdogan/. Accessed: 2021/09/27
RaillyNews. 2022. 'Pride March' Decision from Istanbul Governor's Office: Metro and Funicular Closed. Available from: https://raillynews.com/2022/06/istanbul-valiliginden-onur-yuruyusu-karari-metro-ve-funikuler-kapali/. Accessed: 2022/08/10
Reuters. 2020. Turkish ruling party, lawyers clash over cleric comments on homosexuality. Available from: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-rights-homosexuality-idUSKCN2291LE. Accessed: 2021/09/27
Sargin, F. & Goktas, S. 2017. HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men in Istanbul. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 54:58
VOA News. 2022. Turkey's Anti-LGBTQ Display Reflects Nation's Political Shift. Available from: https://www.voanews.com/a/turkey-s-anti-lgbtq-display-reflects-nation-s-political-shift/6760131.html Accessed: 2022/11/01
Young Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Intersex Youth Studies and Solidarity Association, Young LGBTI+. 2020. The State of the Lgbti + Community During the Covid-19 Pandemic Research Report. Available from: https://genclgbti.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/covid-report.pdf.